NRL villains swoop in as Chad Townsend quits Cowboys in NRL stunner

A North Queensland Cowboys playmaker is reportedly leaving the club to join an NRL rival, and it’s exactly who you’d expect.

Veteran halfback Chad Townsend will leave the North Queensland Cowboys at the end of this season to join the Sydney Roosters in a surprise club switch to finish his career.

The Courier Mail reports Townsend will quit the Cowboys at season’s end, with the Roosters expected to sign the 33-year-old as he takes a pay cut.

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Townsend joined the Cowboys in 2022 and played a key role in their charge to the preliminary final in the first season of his three-year stint in North Queensland.

The 257-game veteran also won a premiership with the Cronulla Sharks in 2016.

He was reportedly attracting interest from teams including the Bulldogs and Super League club the Catalans Dragons.

But the Roosters have swooped in, keen to recruit a veteran playmaker to mentor emerging halves Sam Walker and Sandon Smith.

Re-signing Walker and Smith is a priority for the Roosters, with Walker in particular taking a leap forward this year in the No. 7 jersey.

Townsend would be the perfect replacement for five-eighth Luke Keary, who is leaving the Roosters at the end of the year for a career swan song in France with Catalans.

The Cowboys are conscious of salary cap pressures and want to re-sign young playmakers Tom Duffy and Jake Clifford as young gun Tom Dearden takes the reins of the team.

Chad Townsend is set to leave the Cowboys and join the Roosters. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Cowboys football boss Michael Luck said the club was parting ways with Townsend on good terms.

“Chad is a champion bloke, he is so professional and he understands how this game works,” Luck told the Courier Mail.

“We told Chad last week that there would be nothing here for him unfortunately with the salary cap.

“We brought him here for three years to do a job and he has a chance to finish on a really good note.

“He has mentored our younger blokes and done a great job, Tom Duffy is shooting the lights out in the Queensland Cup. Jake Clifford is a more mature player since coming back and Tommy Dearden is now an Origin player, so we can’t have asked anymore of him.

“The level of maturity and calmness he has brought to our team over his time here has been amazing. We are a much better club for having him as a part of it and we are a better team when he is on the park.

Townsend helped turn the Cowboys around. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“Chad has been a great leader, so we were very lucky to have him here.

“There were a few factors with Chad (leaving). Salary cap was one of them, but we are confident in our young halves, they have served an apprenticeship and we feel guys like Tom Duffy, Jake Clifford and Jaxon Purdue are ready to take the next step.

“Tommy Dearden is one of the best young playmakers in the game. It will be sad to see Chad go, but we are grateful for his time here and hopefully he can finish on a good note here.”

Townsend is believed to be interested in pursuing a career in the media once his footy career is done, which was a factor in his decision to move to Sydney.

The Cowboys currently sit seventh on the ladder and are aiming to return to finals after missing the top eight last year.

The Roosters have recently re-signed forward Angus Crichton until 2026, after they backed out of a bold bid to recruit David Fifita from the Titans.

Crichton, 28, is enjoying a career resurgence after health issues nearly forced him out of the game. He was one of NSW’s best in the State of Origin Game 2 win.